Bro Alert: Too Much Booze May Harm Your Sperm

The more alcohol young men drink, the lower their sperm count and quality may be, new research suggests.

“Many studies have shown that excessive alcohol intake is bad for general health, but few have shown impacts on reproductive health, except at very high levels,” said Dr. Michael Eisenberg, an assistant professor of urology at Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved with the study. “This provides another lifestyle factor that men could be counseled about when trying to conceive.”

Although the men drinking the most alcohol each week — 40 units or more — had the lowest sperm counts, the most surprising finding was that an effect was seen even in men drinking as little as five units a week, said lead researcher Dr. Tina Kold Jensen, a professor of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark. A unit was defined as a single beer, a glass of wine or about the equivalent of a shot glass of liquor.

However, because of the study’s design, the research couldn’t show that alcohol was the cause of sperm changes, only that higher levels of drinking were associated with fewer and less quality sperm. The researchers said they did try to take other possible causes into account, however.